H2O: Just Add Alcohol
by Stessa
Summary: You know what they say - just add alcohol and everything's better. Rikki had learned that long before she knew either Emma or Cleo. But at a time like this, she was slightly doubting the honesty of that saying. Rikki-centered oneshot, sort of RikkixEmma.


**H2O: Just Add Alcohol **

A _Rikki _and _Emma _one-shot,

written by _Stessa. _

Rikki was excited about tonight. It had been a while since she had really been to a party and just danced and hung out with different people. She used to do it all the time before she moved with her father, but after she got to know Emma and Cleo her time had been occupied with a lot of other things. They always said that it wasn't safe to party with other people, but this was the bash of the year and they simply had to come. So she had convinced them, promised them that they'd just look out for each other and everything would work out.

It was just outside of town and Cleo's father would drive them there. Her father would borrow the neighbours' old van and pick them up again, since Emma's parents were having people over for dinner. This wasn't Emma's thing at all, she was more a slumber party kind of girl, but she had ended up agreeing to go with them when Rikki herself had kept bothering her about it. Rikki applauded herself for convincing her; but after all – she could be very persuasive.

Rikki just wasn't sure what to wear. On one hand she still had the pink dress that Zane had bought for her, but she didn't really feel like wearing it. Not after their split, it was a bit weird. She had felt really bad about splitting with Zane, even if she was the one who had said she needed space. There had just been too many things going on around her, and even if he got angry with her – that dude did have a problem with his temper and attitude – he still said that he'd always be there for her. She had had a positive effect on him; Rikki applauded herself for that one as well.

Rikki pulled the pink dress out of her drawer and gave it a once-over – nah, she wouldn't wear that tonight, plus, it had wrinkles all over after being at the bottom of her drawer for so long. She'd just wear some of her usual clothes. Someone had to be the tough one and have the attitude if they got problems. Of course Lewis and Ash would be there, but Lewis wasn't a badass, and Ash, well... she just wasn't really sure if she could count on him.

Plus – she really didn't like how he and Emma had been lately. Something wasn't quite adding up, or maybe she was just seeing things like she wanted them to be. She didn't want Emma to be with Ash any longer, she wanted them to split because she had something important to tell Emma – something she couldn't tell her as long as she had a boyfriend. That something important was also one of the reasons that she broke up with Zane; she hadn't been able to handle it all at one time. It was too confusing for her. She'd been through a lot in her life, all the moving, her parents' split, not being able to afford very much, and... she just didn't want to cause unnecessary problems. Life was complicated enough as it was, no need to mess it up more.

She just wished that she could tell Emma about her... _feelings_.

Rikki fell onto her small bed with a huge sigh and stared into the ceiling. Why, again, had she decided to develop romantic feelings for one of her best friends? And it was Emma of all people! She could understand if it had been Cleo, they had some things in common, but Emma? Seriously? They couldn't be more different. It had gotten better when they had started to respect and tolerate each other, but in the beginning they had put up a fight about everything and it didn't help that they were both unbelievably stubborn.

But despite all of that... Emma was beautiful. She was talented and she made Rikki herself a better person at times, Rikki had got to admit that. It was just hard to keep all these things to herself. Of course her father knew that something was up when she told him that she had dumped Zane, and he also knew about her fondness for girls, because she had had a 'girlfriend' where they used to live before. And he was cool about it, he always had been.

But Emma wasn't, wouldn't be. She was straight, she was perfect, she wasn't... like Rikki herself. And Emma's parents, well, Rikki had met them plenty of times, and she thought that it was safe to say that they wouldn't be cool with this like her father was. Not that anything would ever happen between them. Emma was perfectly in love with Ash, she was never into girls, never would be, and Rikki really didn't want to lose her and ruin their friendship. The three of them only had each other, they had got to stick together, otherwise things would get out of hand. But Rikki did think that she should tell Emma, because if the other girl knew then maybe Rikki herself could get past it and move on.

"So I'll just wear this?" Rikki questioned herself with a small smile, as she pulled slightly out in her red top. When no one objected to that, she pushed herself off of the bed, grabbed her stuff and set off to get to Cleo's place.

No matter what happened this night, she was going to have fun and drink beer.

-

When Rikki arrived at Cleo's place, however, things didn't appear to be as fun as she had hoped. Emma was talking loudly with someone on the phone, pacing around Cleo's room, only half dressed in a gorgeous light blue dress, and Cleo was sitting on her bed with a concerned look across her face; perfectly Cleo.

Rikki threw her bag on the floor and sat down next to Cleo, "Who is it?" she whispered and shot another look in Emma's direction. Emma looked upset, and that really worried Rikki. She hated when something was wrong with either Cleo or Emma; it made her feel unhappy too, but she guessed that that had something to do with friendship.

Cleo leaned in closer and carefully whispered, "She's on the phone with Ash. It doesn't look good." the brunette shook her head and gave Emma another look with her concerned brown eyes. She looked exactly like Rikki felt.

"What now?" Rikki questioned and crossed her arms across her chest. She didn't like this – she didn't like this at all.

The both of them kept quiet when Emma let her hand drop to her side with a low sigh. They could tell that it wasn't a good ending, and they scooted apart so the blonde could sit down between them. Cleo placed an am around her and pulled her close, "Is it over, Emma?" she softly asked.

Emma didn't say a word, but she nodded as she looked into her lap. Rikki didn't know how to act, she stared at Emma as tears trailed down her face. She felt the need to wipe them off, but instead she placed an awkward hand on her back and rubbed it gently, "No need to cry, Em, he wasn't good for you." she softly said, afraid that she'd say something wrong.

Emma sighed heavily and lifted her head, placing it lightly on Rikki's shoulder, "I know, but... he was still my boyfriend. Things just haven't been good for a very long time."

"You still wanna go tonight, right?" Cleo questioned in a nervous voice.

Emma sat up straight again and wiped off her cheeks with the back of her hand. She shook her head then and said, "No, I don't wanna do anything, I just wanna go home and watch a movie."

Rikki shared a look with Cleo; they had all been looking forward to this party, they had to go, it would be social suicide if they didn't! Not that Rikki really cared about that, it had just been Cleo's argument when they convinced Emma. Rikki looked up at Emma again then and said, "Come on Emma! We really want to go to this thing. Go out there – meet new boys. The world's your oyster!"

Emma couldn't help but chuckle light at that comment and the irony of it. She gave her two best friends a strange look, "And I'm the pearl, right?"

"You're the pearl." Cleo immediately said and stood up, placing an arm around her again. They both held out their free arm as if to tell her to join in, so Rikki stood up too and tried to hide her smile, "You don't expect me to go for a group hug, do you?"

Emma moved her fingers slightly, as if to tell her to come, "You know you want to..." she teased her, and Rikki really did want to, so she shrugged and quickly joined them both for a three-way hug. They squeezed the life out of her every time, but it was always worth it; she had never had friends like these two – they were the best ones she could ever wish for.

Rikki suddenly pulled back and raised an eyebrow, "Oh shit..." she mumbled, when she thought of what had just happened before the group hug, "Did I just say 'the world's your oyster'?" she wanted to know.

Cleo wrinkled her nose in that cute kind of way that only she could, "You did."

"You totally just did." Emma felt the need to add with a cute smile.

Rikki made a face, "I'm starting to sound like Charlotte! Ew."

The two other girls laughed and squeezed her once more before they pulled apart. Emma turned around and pulled up her hair, "If you guys still wanna go tonight, someone will need to zip up my dress."

Rikki threw herself onto the bed again and placed her hands behind her head, "Why don't you just go like that? Sure it'll attract some attention."

Cleo made a face at her and volunteered to zip it up. When she was done she turned back around and stood there with her hands on her hips, much like her mother always used to do in the short while Rikki had known her, "What are you wearing for the party?"

Rikki glanced down at herself, stating the pretty obvious.

Emma turned around too and raised an eyebrow, "You're not wearing a dress?"

Rikki sat up again, Indian-style, and shrugged, "No. Someone'll have to take care of you two, and I don't want to ruin my only dress." she just said.

"Well I wanna dress up if I'm going." Emma replied and turned back around to fix herself in Cleo's mirror.

Rikki shot her a sideways smile through the reflection, "Never said you could-_en't_." she mocked in a sort of sing-song voice and reached for a magazine on Cleo's night stand to go through while the other two figured out what to do with themselves. She bent her head and flipped it open, hoping that something would catch her attention. Not that she particularly liked reading about fashion and celebrities, but it'd have to do.

"I can't really decide-" Cleo said as she returned from her bathroom with two dresses, one in each hand, "-should I wear the purple one with all the layers, or should I wear this red one that'll totally cling to my body."

Emma turned back around to look at the two dresses and studied each of them for a very long time, "I like the purple one. And it's much more your style, Cleo."

Cleo raised both her shoulders and bit her lip, "But it's hard to decide." she whined, "I know it's more me, but I wanna look good for Lewis." she looked up again with a look that said 'help me, please?'.

Emma kept moving her mascara between her fingers as she made a cute humming sound. Rikki wasn't really a part of the whole dress-selection-committee, but she couldn't help but glance at her two friends through the corner of her eye. Emma nodded her head, "Sure... you've got a point Cleo. It's always nice to look good for your guy."

Cleo stared at her and shrugged yet again. Then the two of them turned to Rikki, "What do you think?" the brunette asked her with huge eyes.

Rikki let the magazine fall shut as she glanced up at her two friends with a fake smile, showing all her teeth, "Whaaat?" she got through gritted teeth.

"Which dress?" Cleo questioned, and Emma stood next to her with an expectant smile on her face, and Rikki had no idea what to do, so she just scratched her head.

Emma just smiled even wider, "Rikki?"

"What-what were the pros and cons again?" Rikki asked and threw the magazine on the table.

Cleo held the purple one up, "This one, which is exactly what I usually wear, or this one-" she paused and held the red one up, "-which will really make me look good for Lewis?"

In Rikki's head there was no question of which one it should be, it was pretty clear; Cleo shouldn't try to be something she's not. It never worked out with the fakers. Rikki believed that that had been proved that time when Emma tried to be a rebel – it hadn't been pretty, "Well, Lewis is your boyfriend, he likes you for who you are, and you should totally wear the purple one." she got off of the bed and stood up too.

Cleo seemed to debate it with herself for a few more seconds, before she nodded in agreement, "Yeah, you're right, Rikki..." she trailed off and went back into the bathroom to get changed.

Rikki sighed in relief and turned her hand over to check her watch, "We better get going soon." she said and turned to find her wallet and cell phone somewhere in her messy bag.

"Hey Rikki?" Emma softly questioned and Rikki turned to look up at her. She had seemed fine just a second ago, but the break-up with Ash still hung around her and Rikki knew that she'd have to get Emma good and drunk so she'd have some fun and forget about everything for a while.

"Yup?" she questioned and shot her a halfway smile.

Emma was quiet for about thirty seconds until she spoke up, "I'm not really sure about tonight.. what if Ash shows up or something?"

Rikki stood up and placed an arm around her in comfort, much like Cleo had just done, since that had looked sort of good, and tried to be the good friend she could be at times, "Well, Ash knows that you're going, doesn't he?" she whispered and stroked Emma's bare shoulder. Emma gave a small nod, and Rikki continued, "So he wouldn't come!" she exclaimed, "He wouldn't do that to you, Emma! Ash is a great guy... except for the fact that he completely broke your heart just now." she had to add and suddenly her argument wasn't too good.

Emma turned her head to the side and suddenly their faces were very close and Rikki became aware of that immediately and her breath hitched in her throat, "You're gonna make sure that I have a good time, right?" the former swimmer whispered, "I mean... Lewis and Cleo will be all over each other, you're gonna make sure I have fun, aren't you Rikki?"

Rikki nodded almost not noticeably and whispered right back, "Sure... you can count on me, Em."

-

"Wow, there sure is a lot of people here." Lewis commented with a nod as they manoeuvred through the throng of people, both Cleo and Emma holding on to their purses like never before.

Rikki on the other hand was certainly amused; this was exactly like she remembered these parties to be. Full of life and people were just having fun and letting loose. "Are you kiddin', I love this!" she said and looked around the place.

"That is so cute." Emma said to her in an 'I know better'-voice, "Finally you're excited about something. You _never _get excited about anything."

"Hey!" Rikki said, voice raised a little, after all she had to talk through a banging stereo, "I get excited about stuff."

Cleo shot her a suspicious look, "Oh really?" she questioned.

Rikki gave a little nod, "I do!" she argued back, and when they were still staring at her – all three of them – she shook her head and half laughed, half smiled, "You know what? Why don't we get something to drink instead?"

Lewis nodded and pointed towards a table in the back, "Help me get some and you guys can get a table." he said the last part to Cleo and Emma. Rikki nodded and grabbed him by the arm, immediately pulling him towards the bar. She would have to get something strong for Emma. She knew they had shots here, but she wasn't sure if she'd ever get Emma to down one of those. They were tasty though, it were the slush ice ones. "Should we just get some soda?" Lewis asked her as they had to make the choice with a busy bartender right in front of them.

Rikki had to think quickly so she nodded and said, "Yeah..." she trailed off as she tried to figure out what to do. "Hey! Why don't you just get yours and Cleo's, and I'll grab the ones for Emma and I?"

Lewis nodded and turned to the bartender to order while Rikki turned slightly and glanced back at the two others; Emma actually looked like she was having an okay time talking with Cleo, but Rikki would have to do more to get her in a better mood. She couldn't help it – she really wanted to make sure that Emma was alright, it was this certain need she had since she started having feelings for her.

Lewis offered her a smile as he pushed through the people behind them with a drink in each hand. Rikki then turned to the bartender and said, "I want two of the strongest thing you have, but-" she stopped him when he was about to grab some glasses from beneath the bar, "-you have to make sure that it kinda looks like... some sort of soda?" the last part was more of a question than an order, but the bartender winked at her and smiled.

"I've got just the thing for you." he replied and turned to fix it together while Rikki went through her pockets to find some money. It wasn't the thing she had most of, but it had just been her birthday, and a few unknown relatives had sent her cards with money in so she could 'buy herself something pretty', and it looked liked all of them would be spent tonight. It didn't matter to Rikki though, she had always lived without 'pretty' things, she could continue to do so.

The bartender returned with two cups of something that looked like coke and Rikki offered him a huge smile and mumbled a soft 'thank you' as she handed him the money. She grabbed the two plastic cups and tried to push through the line without spilling too much. When there finally was some air around her, Rikki looked up and glanced at their table. Lewis and Cleo were sitting pretty close, they were talking and Emma looked bored again, and she was flipping through her cell phone.

"Damn, she isn't supposed to be bored!" Rikki mumbled to herself, just before she sat a cup down in front of Emma and took the seat opposite her, "Here you go." she smiled.

Emma reached for the cup, "Thanks." she whispered and lifted it to take a sip. She sat it back down immediately though, and made a weird face, "This doesn't take like soda." she said and raised an eyebrow in her direction.

Rikki felt her eyes go wide as she tried to think of something to say, "Oh that's 'cuz.." she paused, "That's 'cuz it's this _new_ kind of coke, aaand it's the first time they're having it here."

Emma seemed to think about it for a few seconds before she shrugged, "Alright..." she smiled and took another sip of the cup and Rikki sipped hers too, enjoying the taste of alcohol at the tip of her tongue. If Emma hadn't tried it before it wouldn't take too long before she started acting different and very... un-Emma-like.

"So." Rikki stated so they could get some conversation going. Cleo and Lewis were pretty busy, she didn't bother talking to them right now, Emma would just have to do, which Rikki actually didn't mind at all, "When you're ready to talk about Ash, you know I'm ready to listen, right?"

Emma nodded and sipped her drink again, "I just..." she paused, had some troubles with getting it out, Rikki could tell, "I know we were having troubles. From the start we were always arguing, but... I'm still gonna miss him so much."

Rikki let her drink be at the table and reached a hand out to grab Emma's, "I know.." she whispered and squeezed her fingers tight, "But it'll be easier. I promise." she added. She wasn't very good with this kind of thing so she just did her best.

Emma nodded and squeezed her hand right back, "Yeah.." she smiled, "Thanks Rikki, you're an awesome friend."

Rikki downed her drink and stood up, "I'll get us some more of these." she quickly said and rushed out of there in a hurry. She really wasn't comfortable being like this with Emma, not when she had all those feelings, waiting to come out. And if she wanted to get Emma a bit drunk, one more drink would have to do.

She stopped though, when she saw something that was definitely not right. "Hell no!" she said and stomped her converse into the floor in anger, "He was not supposed to show up!" she said to herself and pushed through a group of giggling girls to go face Ash head-on; he couldn't do this, he couldn't be here when Emma was supposed to have fun tonight. That was just it! She was going to get him to leave. He was talking to a bunch of his friends, so she just stood there right behind him, a hand in each side.

One of the other guys said something to Ash and nodded towards her and Ash turned around with a confused look, but when he saw who it was, he stiffened.

"What . are . you . doing . here?" Rikki asked him, clearly stating that he was not welcome and that he had to leave immediately.

Ash looked around, "I'm here to party." he said, stating the obvious.

Rikki sneered at him, "Emma's here too. She's gonna break completely down if she sees you here. You have to leave." she said. She did know that this was a party and everyone could come and have fun, but in her head he really wasn't allowed to be there.

"No worries." he said, like it was no big deal, "I'll just avoid her."

Rikki gave him the eyes, but she knew that there was nothing particular that she could do about it, so she shook her head and turned right back around to get herself and Emma a drink. She had a bad feeling about this, but things juuuust got interesting.

-

When Rikki came back to the table, she sat the drinks down again and looked down at Emma with a thoughtful look. She knew that the other girl would be able to see that something was wrong immediately, but she just couldn't hide her concern about this. She tried her best not to let other people too close to her, but Cleo and Emma had gotten close – and now they were so close that they knew her like no one else had ever known her.

Emma reached for her drink and took a sip before she said, "What's wrong?" the girl with the dirty blonde hair questioned and gave her a look.

Rikki took a seat and made a face, "Ash is here." she admitted; didn't want to do so, because she had assured Emma before that he probably wouldn't show up when he knew she was going. That had been some baaaad assuring.

Emma's eyes immediately turned wide, and even if Cleo and Lewis had seemed pretty busy kissing, they turned their heads in their direction too, "What?" Emma shrieked and stood up, "Ash is here?! He's not supposed to be here."

"Look I'm sorry!" Rikki said and quickly drank the half of her plastic cup, before continuing, "I went up him, and I tried to tell him to leave." she waved with her free hand in the air as she spoke, out somewhere in the mess of bodies on the dance floor, "He didn't listen!" she finished.

Emma turned her head up and lifted the cup to lips. For a second there, Rikki was worried if she might spill everything, but she downed it – all of it, and that was certainly surprising for everyone, since no one thought she'd be able to do that. She placed the cup on the table again and pushed her chair back, "I gotta go to the bathroom." she whispered and went around the table.

Rikki turned her head around and followed her out with her eyes – she now couldn't decide if she was happy or sad about the fact that Emma was wobbling quite a bit, and didn't seem to walk completely straight. She turned back around and stared at the love-birds, "I'm gonna go check on her." she said.

Cleo looked very concerned, "Don't you think we ought to take her home?" the brunette questioned, and Rikki sighed on the inside, both because of the fact that they'd have to leave the party, but also because she knew she should have suggested that herself.

Rikki knew that Cleo really had been looking forward to this, so she did the only thing she could think of (which would also buy her some time alone with Emma if she figured out how exactly to swing it right), "Why don't you guys stay here?" she suggested to them with a raised shoulder, "I know you both wanted to be here. I'll call up my father, he can get me and Emma – if you guys know how to get home of course."

Cleo turned to Lewis with questions floating in her brown pools and Rikki could tell that she really wanted to stay and that she liked the idea, "I think I can get my big brother to pick us up." he suggested.

Cleo was about to speak, but Rikki really didn't have time for all of this, for Emma was alone around here somewhere, pretty upset and a bit tipsy, "Alright, that's settled then!" she clapped her hands together and continued, "I'll go find Emma – see ya!" she turned to leave and quickly pushed through everyone, not caring if she stepped on toes. At least she wasn't wearing high heels.

There was a monster-line at the bathroom and only three stalls, but even if people objected when she squeezed her way up front, Rikki didn't listen. Emma had said she'd go to the bathroom, so that was where she would be. She wasn't in the line though, so she must be in one of the stalls. Rikki was contemplating for a second if she should get down on all four to check out the shoes, but that might not be the most civilized way to go about it. She clenched her jaw and tried, very questionably, "Emma?"

One of the locks turned and Rikki took a step closer.

"Em? Are you in there?"

A faint voice was then heard, through the door, "Is that you, Rikki?"

Rikki felt very relieved when it indeed was Emma, because if she wasn't in one of the stalls, then she might have had to send out an entire search party to find the girl, and she wasn't really up for that tonight, "Can you let me in?" she questioned and heard a bunch of groans from the tripping girls behind her, and as Emma moved the knob slightly, Rikki turned to them all with the best apologetic smile she could muster, "Boy trouble." she simply said, and then, without her knowledge, she was pulled into the stall and the door was locked behind her.

"I can't believe he's here." Emma frantically mumbled and sat down on the closed toilet, "I simply can't believe he's here. He wasn't supposed to come, it was supposed to be fun tonight."

Rikki let herself slide back against the wall down and onto the floor and smiled up at Emma, who was now looking down at her, "I know this wasn't what you wanted, Em, but it can still be fun."

Emma shook her head, firmly, "No!" she said, "I wanna go home. I can't handle this. I can't handle breaking up. It's too much for me. I've never had to deal with anything like this before."

Rikki wanted so badly to be kind and friendly, to just try to console her friend, her crush, but she couldn't just do that, it went against her natural personality, "_Trust me_, Emma," she said, emphasising the 'trust me' part, because that, she knew, could sometimes be hard, "it's not as hard as you think it might. There's things a lot more difficult in this world."

Emma sighed and shot Rikki a blurry smile, "I know you've had to deal with all kind of things, Rikki, but I haven't." she sighed and rested her elbows on her knees, her heads in her hands, "This is hard for me, I don't know how to cope."

"So you really just want to go home?" Rikki questioned, her mind working extremely fast to figure that one out. She couldn't exactly drop Emma off with her parents like this; they'd freak. She'd have to call her father and figure something out.

Emma nodded, "Yes."

Rikki took in a deep breath, contemplating about how to go around this. She really wanted to do something before she left. Emma was just about the perfect amount of drunk, if not too much, and she knew it was messy with Ash and everything, but she needed to get this off her chest if she would ever function just semi-normally around Emma again, "I need to tell you something first." she quickly rambled off, knew that what would happen and what she'd say in the next few minutes wasn't her at all; it wasn't Rikki, but it was something she had to do.

Emma lifted her head slightly again and shot her a curious look, "What is it?"

Rikki took in a deep breath and told herself that this was exactly like it had been with Zane; that it was alright, and that she should just do something about it – it wasn't a big deal; she could do it.

_When have I ever gotten this nervous? _Rikki questioned herself inside her head. _Oh crap,_ she continued to think, when she realized what was happening, _and now I'm talking to myself as well? Gree-at!_

"Rikki?"

When Rikki looked up again to lock her eyes with Emma, she found that the other girl had leaned forward, probably out of curiosity or concern, but now she was pretty close again, just like they had been earlier in Cleo's bedroom. If she had the guts, Rikki could actually just lean forward and... plant one on her.

So that was what she did.

She lifted herself slightly off of the floor, felt Emma's scent come closer and closer, and before she knew it, their lips were pressed against each other, just quickly, just briefly, because then she pulled back herself, afraid of what would happen. "I like you, Emma." she said and their eyes were locked again, and she had never seen deeper.

"Oh..." Emma whispered, slowly, lowly, "Okay."

Rikki didn't know what she had expected, she hadn't really expected anything, so an 'okay' was alright, she believed, so she stood up now and pulled Emma with her, placing a supportive arm around her waist, "Let's call my father and get you to bed." she said while Emma managed to unlock the door, and they walked out together, letting a very happy girl into the bathroom.

Just outside, a bit away from the long line, Rikki pulled out her cell phone, still holding on to Emma as she dialled her father's cell number. He was quick to pick up; he was always like that. When he was supposed to come get her from somewhere, he was always ready – they only had each other, so they always took care of one another.

"Rikki?"

"Hey Dad," the blonde smiled into her cell phone, "can you come pick up me and Emma? She's not feeling too good."

There was a brief silence before he said, "Sure..."

She could tell that he wasn't quite sure what was going on, so she decided to evaporate a bit, "She got a bit too much to drink, so do you think she could stay at ours? I can't really let her home." that was the only solution she could come up with, even if they didn't have that much room.

"If you can squeeze together on one bed, that'll be fine." her father replied to her in a casual voice.

Rikki nodded, "That's perfect, thanks dad." she told him and hung up; it wasn't much room, but it was the best she could do. Emma would appreciate that her parents didn't see her like this, even if it meant a bad night's sleep for once. The sofa Rikki slept on wasn't exactly like the mattress Emma had herself.

"Am I going to spend the night with you?" Emma asked her in a giddy voice, "I've never done that before."

Rikki made a face, "...and there's a reason for that." she said, before she dialled Emma's home number, hoping that she wouldn't disrupt Emma's parents' dinner party, "Here goes nothing..." she whispered to herself, just as the phone was answered.

–

"Thank you so much for picking us up, Dad, I really appreciate it." Rikki said to her father as they were on the road back home again. The two girls were in the passenger's seat, squeezed together, because this was a van and there were no back seats, only a big trunk. Emma's head rested slightly on Rikki's shoulder; she looked half asleep, but the pale-skinned girl knew that it was just the booze taking over.

Her father glanced to the side and offered her a small smile, "No problem, Love – we've gotta watch out for each other, you and I."

Rikki smiled at him again, but then glanced down at Emma, who had her eyes open more clearly now and was gazing around the entire car, "It's alright Emma, we're going home now, there you can sleep it all off." Rikki whispered, but looked up when she heard her father chuckle.

"What did you give her to drink, Rikki?" he questioned his daughter with a wink in his eye, "Were you trying to get her to do something or what?" he chuckled lowly, the chuckle Rikki had always loved to hear – it was the most characteristic thing about her father. But it wasn't too often he chuckled like that any more. Things were just too difficult.

Rikki quickly glanced down at Emma again, and saw that the other girl had closed her eyes completely. She looked up at her father, quite embarrassed to admit what she had done; but this was a thing they could talk about. So many other things were weird for them to discuss, but this thing – this one thing – they could actually talk about, "I was just trying to get her to loosen up, Dad, she didn't feel too good earlier, but I probably went overboard... it's the first time she's ever had alcohol."

Her father clenched the wheel slightly, "But you meant well," he firmly said, eyes kept on the road, "because... you know what they say – Just add alcohol and everything's better."

Rikki felt her jaw tighten, "Yeah – except it's _not_." she mumbled and shook her head slightly, "Look at Emma – she's not better, she's just really drunk and she will wake up with a major headache."

Her father shrugged, "It's the package deal."

Rikki didn't exactly know how to respond to that, so she just stared out of the dusty car window and hoped that Emma would somehow forgive her for all of this in the morning – she'd figure out what had been up, she was smart, and it was pretty easy to tell so. Actually, Rikki was surprised that she hadn't seen through her lies earlier, she usually did – pretty fast.

"So," her father started out, his voice low and slow again, as they got closer to the trailer park, "did you at least tell her how you feel?"

This was probably the most sentimental she'd ever experience her father as. He'd never been good with these kind of things, and she had sort of inherited that from him. It just wasn't in their nature, but Rikki felt that she had better chances already after spending time with Cleo, Emma and Lewis; they'd really taught her some things she'd never forget; even if she someday wouldn't be friends with them any longer.

She gave her father a halfway smile and nodded, "I did. Yeah." she paused slightly to glance down at the beautiful girl curled up next to her, "Not sure what will happen, though. It was rather... questionable." she glanced back at her father again, "But I told her. That's all that really matters, right?"

Her father reached a hand out and carefully messed up her hear, "Sure is, kiddo." he laughed and then put both hands back on the steering wheel as they made a turn and the car came to a stop in front of their trailer, "Why don't you get Emma inside, and I'll return the van?" he suggested with a raised eyebrow.

Rikki opened the door and jumped out of the car, carefully keeping Emma in place. She got the other girl out of the car as well, and placed her arm around her shoulders, to keep her upright as they went inside, "Thanks Dad, again." she smiled and closed the door to the van behind her.

Rikki had no idea what would happen in the morning, but at least she had taken care of Emma like a real friend.

–

Rikki took in a deep breath and stared at the two cups of cocoa on the table in front of her. It was rather chilly in the morning air, but she hadn't bothered putting on a jacket for the five minutes it took to boil water right outside. Her father had left earlier in the morning, and she thought that it might be nice of her to wake Emma up with something hot to drink after the night she had the day before.

Rikki quickly placed a tea spoon in both cups and grabbed the handles before she balanced inside again, only managing to make it through the door, which always tended to smack close in her face when she tried to get inside.

She smiled when she saw that Emma had woken up during her 'kitchen' stay and was sitting with her back popped against the back of the old trailer couch. She looked so out of place in this environment, like a princess in a peasant's house. She smiled back at Rikki though and gratefully accepted the cup, "I've never done this before." she said.

Rikki took a seat next to her, still balancing the cup without spilling, "Sorry, I know it's not much." she replied, and reminded herself that she had introduced her father and shown her house off so they could do these sort of things. But right now she knew why she hadn't wanted to do it in the first place – she had always been sort of embarrassed about it.

Emma shot her that characteristic smile of hers, "It's perfect." she said, with a tiny wink.

Rikki took a sip of her cocoa, just to have something to do; she wasn't quite sure how to go about this right now, it seemed rather odd to just start talking about last night, even if there was one certain thing (and that thing had happened in a filthy bathroom stall) she really wanted to discuss.

Emma rested the cup between her knees and turned to Rikki again, "So exactly what happened last night? There's gotta be a reason that I feel sore and that I have a major headache, not to mention the fact that I haven't slept in my own bed."

She didn't seem mad or anything, so Rikki figured she should just be honest with her; it always got her the furthest anyway, so that was a pretty good combination, "I might have... slipped you something to drink that wasn't coke." she admitted with an apologetic smile, "...sorry."

"It's alright." Emma replied in that certain sort of way that only she could; it was like the simplest of things, Emma was always like that, "I didn't exactly buy your 'this is a new kind of soda' speech, but I figured – what the heck." she chuckled lowly, "And it did help me see things in another perspective, because I think I actually ended up forgetting about Ash."

Rikki felt her smile grow very wide as Emma said this, "Well, that was the point!" she cheered and then sipped a bit of her drink again; it felt nice to get something warm down her throat after last night, it loosened everything up a bit.

Emma raised an eyebrow, "...I actually think I ended up forgetting pretty much everything." she admitted in a low voice, "I've never done anything like that before." she paused and looked up at Rikki again, "But thanks for having me here. My parents would have grounded me for life if I came home just smelling the slightest bit of something that's not root bear."

Rikki nodded shortly, "I figured that much." she whispered and sipped more of her cocoa; it was a good way to mask the silence as something else. She knew she'd have to ask her soon though, she couldn't just go on, not knowing if Emma remembered the slightest bit of last night, if she was wondering, if she felt weird about it. Rikki had to know, just to feel better about it. She just wasn't exactly sure how to start up _that_ conversation.

Emma twirled a piece of hair between her fingers and said, "I'm just really glad that Ash didn't turn up last night."

Rikki froze at that. Emma _didn't_ remember Ash showing up? She didn't remember her frantic search for the bathroom and their talk whilst girls were tripping in their high heels to go pee? Rikki wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or not. If Emma remembered zero of all that, it meant that she remembered even less of what Rikki had said and done – it meant that everything had been for nothing and that she was back where she started.

There was only one way to be sure...

"Hey Emma?" Rikki questioned in a low, slightly insecure voice, "It's alright if you just wanna forget about what happened last night in the bathroom."

There. She had said it. Now was the hard part – the slightly more exciting part. What would Emma reply to that? Rikki held her breath, as Emma's eyes found hers.

"Bathroom?" she questioned, eyes filled with confusion, "What happened in the bathroom?"

Rikki felt her heart beat slightly faster as she realized that it had all been in vain. It was sad, she felt sort of bad for herself, but also kind of relieved. She wasn't sure if she would have been ready to deal with the consequences. It had been a stupid plan, hadn't it? Emma was the picture perfect of a daughter. She was never meant to get drunk, date slackers, date... girls.

Rikki shot Emma the best smile she could muster in her state, "Nothing Emma..." she whispered and raised the cup to her mouth, "Nothing.. just forget about it." she finished.

* * *

_So there it was. The first product of my latest (seriously taking-over-my-life-sorta) obsession. Since I discovered this amazing show, things have been really weird for me. I fell in love with Rikki's easy-going, out-going sort of personality from the start, and I think that her relationship with Zane is awesome. And it does help that Cariba Heine is very nice to look at (I'm just sayin'!). However, I do like to try out more different and not-so-mainstream couples, because that's just who I am, so I figured, why not give Emma and Rikki a shot? This one wasn't really that, since nothing happened. _

_I hope you liked it, though, it was sort of my weird twisted way to screw up Rikki just a wee bit more – I liked playing with her like this; it was very enjoyable. _

_I tried my hardest to stay in character with everyone, but I KNOW they slipped at times, however, I'm weirdly proud of myself with this, and that never happens._

_Please leave me a comment with your thoughts? Just not any gay-bashing, don't really need to hear it, I know a number of gay people, and none of them deserve to be bashed. _

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own H2O: Just Add Water (but I do have a couple of episodes on my laptop), aaaand, I do have a red iPod Nano that reminded me so much of Rikki that... I named her Rikki :P (I'm not crazy, I'm really not crazy). _


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